I'm going to be travelling to a friend's this upcoming weekend, and during the time I will likely be using a friend's Xbox. I know that within the past year Microsoft has made the shift to keep profiles "in the cloud," and that now you can sign into your own profile on other user's consoles (similar to the old process of recovering your gamertag). I want to know, however, if by just signing in on my profile I will be able to:

Access my purchased XBLA games for (re)download on the "other" console.

Access my purchased DLC (such as campaigns, characters, etc.) for games we have in common on the other console.

Access my cloud save games for the same games that we have in common.

I've been able to turn up a few differentresources that imply that licenses for XBLA games are attached to BOTH the console they were downloaded on, and the Gamertag that downloaded them, so theoretically I should be able to redownload anything on my friend's console as long as I'm signed into my profile. The problems I have with those answers, however, is that they're dated from before the shift to cloud saving (and I'm not sure if the licensing process has changed, and can't find any resources more recent), that they always seem to be in the context of full XBLA games, and that they don't provide good instructions on how to do so.

So, in a much less verbose recap:

Will signing in to my profile allow me to access the above listed content, for either redownload or use?

If so, how do I do so? Will it just "be available" as long as my profile is signed in? Is it different for games versus DLC versus saves?

I don't believe anything has changed. You should be able to access content you've purchased on the marketplace and download it onto the new console without issue. As far as I know, the licenses on the consoles are there so other profiles or your profile offline can access the full versions of the game; without the licenses on the new console, you will only be able to access the full versions of XBLA games or your DLC if you are signed into Xbox Live. I think the one exception to this rule is with Games on Demand games, which you will always need to be signed in to play.
– MonoApr 24 '13 at 18:03

3 Answers
3

I was able to "sign-in" to my own profile on my friends Xbox, and was able to perform the following:

By signing in on my account and proceeding to Settings -> Account -> Download History:

Redownload any games I had purchased from Xbox Live Arcade, even if my friend did not have them purchased himself. These were fully
operable games, however, if my profile was not signed in, they were
inaccessible, either with an error message stating the correct
profile needed to be signed in, or by reverting to a trial version. (Games tested were Halo: Reach, Super Puzzle Fighter HD Turbo, Metal Slug XX, and King of Fighers 2002UM)

Redownload any DLC for games either I had purchased from the marketplace, either for games my friend already owned, or for games
that I owned and had downloaded to my games. The same restrictions
applied about my account being signed in. (DLC tested was the Leona character unock for Metal Slug XX, and the Halo: Reach Defiant map pack)

By being signed into my account, I was also able to access my cloud saves when opening a game, and selecting the appropriate device from which to load my saves at the prompt for load location. (Cloud saves tested were for Gears of War: Judgement)

As far as I know the only data that you would be able to access would be what is saved on your cloud. So any XBLA games and save files that you can fit in it are fair game. DLC i'm a bit iffy on but I would guess that it could be accessed if it was on your cloud and you had that set as the storage device for the game to check for DLC and saves although someone would need to test that.

I think my question was unclear: I don't necessary want to access "my" iteration of the content. What I'd like to know is if (for example) I own Spelunky on XBLA on my user profile (while my friend doesn't) and I sign in using my profile, will I be able to download a playable version of Spelunky? If I have additional DLC characters for use in Gears of War (while my friend doesn't), will signing into my profile allow me to use those characters? I've edited my post to hopefully be a bit better.
– MejwellApr 24 '13 at 17:19

Yes, you can download a another person's profile and download there content on to your Xbox. This is an easy way for other players to get add-on content that there friends had gotten and want it without spending lots of money to get it. You just need to do a licence transfer when your on the person's profile with said content. Once, done..you can go to there download history. It will show everything that person has downloaded.